


Maybe We Figure It Out in the Morning

by Cfr749



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/M, Feelings Realization, Forbidden Love, Tucy, Undercover, chenford
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-24 05:54:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30067668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cfr749/pseuds/Cfr749
Summary: Will an undercover mission finally lead to Tim and Lucy realizing their feelings for each other? 2 parts; Post 3x06. Chenford / Tucy
Relationships: Tim Bradford & Lucy Chen, Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 16
Kudos: 99
Collections: The Rookie Mid-Season Madness





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy and would love to know what you think!

**Part One**

When Nyla first approached him about helping with the UC operation his response had been immediate, “No,” he snapped as he continued his way down the hall to the break room.

“Tim, wait. You are gonna want to hear me out on this.”

Tim stops once again, taking a deep breath before turning to face her again in irritation. He glowers at her, “Was there something unclear about the word, ‘No’?” he huffs.

Nyla rolls her eyes, thinking that they don’t pay her enough to deal with these overgrown toddlers with egos the size of Texas. “Tim. I know this is hard, but if you’d listen for 2 minutes, you’d realize this isn’t about you. It’s about Lucy.”

He freezes. He hadn’t thought it would be possible for Nyla to piss him off any more than by haggling him about UC work he wants nothing to do with, but here they are. His eyes flash as he growls at her, “Seriously, are we really doing  _ this  _ again?” 

“Tim-”

“No. NO. She’s still on patrol. She has at least 6 months before she can test for UC. You already  _ know _ how I feel about this. Why can’t you just give this a rest?” 

“If you let me  _ SPEAK, _ I will tell you,” Nyla takes a deep breath, reaching deep to find patience. “Tim, she is  _ good _ . Really good. You saw her on the Solanga bust, and more than that you trained her for over a year - I don’t need to tell you that. This is a great opportunity for her to get her foot in the door, and she is going to take it with or without you. But it’s also her first basically solo mission. It could really make a big difference - having someone she’s comfortable with there to back her up.”

“It’s low stakes,” Nyla quickly continues on before Tim can interrupt her again, “Just the first step in establishing a cover she can use down the road; she just needs to be seen and confirm some intelligence on a mid-level dealer for us. You’d just be there keeping her company, giving her someone to interact with until she can confirm the intel; give a little credibility to her just being there to have a good time.”

“And if I say no?”

“That’s your prerogative.” Nyla lifts an eyebrow and shrugs casually, “I’m sure we can find another UC who’s willing to put the moves on her and keep her occupied at the bar.” 

Nyla lets the teasing tone fall out of her voice and stares directly at him, “I just thought that you, of all people, would jump at the opportunity to make sure she’s going in with the best possible set up for her safety.”

Tim shakes his head at her effective manipulation, knowing she’s playing on his protective instinct toward Lucy and betting it will work. It’s been 6 months since Lucy graduated, and 6 months since they’ve ridden together or seen each other outside of the occasional casual run-ins at the station, lunch, or happy hour. He’s a bit caught off guard that despite the time and distance, the emotions Nyla is triggering are no less intense than they were the day Lucy went on the Solanga mission. Resigned, Tim sighs deeply and responds, “Fine,” throwing in a Tim Bradford TO glare for good measure. 

Nyla’s face lights up, only generating further irritation for Tim, “Atta boy!” 

At his intensifying glare, she tries again, smacking him on the shoulder, “You know that look only works on Rookies, right? Come on - you’re getting paid overtime for hanging out at a bar and flirting with a pretty girl. I’m sure there are worse ways you could spend your Friday night.”

~~~

The music has gotten progressively louder for the 30 minutes he has been parked at the bar. And the people have gotten progressively drunker. The transition from after work to late evening is almost complete, the numbers of bodies packed into the room rapidly multiplying. The incessant thumping combined with the burn of whiskey down the back of his throat is making it close to impossible for him to form a coherent thought. 

He’s stiff; the entire situation has him on edge, and he knows his rigidity is doing him no favors when it comes to playing his role of anonymous bar patron unwinding after work and looking to pick up a companion for the night. He inhales deeply and rolls his shoulders trying to alleviate some of the tension, casually scanning the room for what must be the dozenth time, starting to wonder if this is some sort of elaborate set up to punk him and ruin his Friday night. He wouldn’t put that past Nyla, or Lucy for that matter. Especially Lucy. Absentmindedly, he checks for his money clip.

He’s lifting the glass to his lips once more, when he finally sees her. He freezes, his throat going suddenly dry as he slowly takes her in. 

Her hair is loose and flowing down her shoulder in dark waves, somehow just a bit wilder than her normal off shift look. Her make-up is heavier than normal - the smoky shadow and deep red lipstick make her normally sweet, youthful features appear almost… sultry. 

The short black halter dress is a far cry from the flowy, girly Lucy-Esque apparel he is used to seeing her in off shift. It’s hugging her curves in all the places he [logically] knew existed, but, at the same time, has never really let himself know existed. 

Her strappy too high heels in combination with the too short dress elongate her legs in a way that has him second guessing whether he is actually looking at his tiny, bouncy former shotgun companion.

It takes a minute for Tim to realize he’s been staring before he manages to regain brain function. Fortunately for him, the idiotic look that must be on his face as he ogles his former Boot from across the bar works in his favor in terms of playing the moron at the bar that is absolutely going to shoot his shot. Unfortunately for him is the realization that his sudden attraction to his Boot has zero to do with playing that role.

~~~

Her own scan of the room finally leads to her gaze meeting his across the room. He’s staring at her with an intensity that takes Lucy back to her first day as his Boot, but even despite that intensity, Lucy feels comforted immediately. She’s amped up on adrenaline and nerves and catching sight of Tim immediately brings her back to earth, and she realizes how right Nyla was to push for this.

At first, she had balked at the idea of needing her TO to babysit her on her first ‘official’ UC mission since the takedown with Nyla and June, and, furthermore, the idea of having to flirt with her former TO left her feeling more than a little uncomfortable and uncertain. The lines between them had always been so clear - Rookie-TO, superior-subordinate. And even when the lines blurred just slightly - partners that had each other’s backs in life and death situations, friends that enjoyed pushing each other’s buttons, the hard lines were still 100% clear. And it was clinging to those lines that had allowed her to get through her Rookie year with a TO that was as insanely attractive to her as Tim Bradford was. 

Tim Bradford was hot. The kind of hot that had made her knees weak and stomach flutter since that very first day in roll call. There was no questioning that as she was frequently reminded by the line of unabashed, fawning women that seemed to follow him all over LA, popping up at their crime scenes just to remind him [and Lucy] how devastatingly attractive he was.

But the lines were always there to remind her that he was her TO, and they had worked together, side by side, day in and day out, dealing with life threatening situations on a regular basis. The fact that he’d been a massive asshole toward her in the beginning also ended up being a great catalyst in allowing her to stuff her slightly embarrassing school girl crush over his  _ hunkiness  _ back into the deep recesses of her psyche where it belonged… for the most part anyway. And she focused on becoming the best cop she could be. All in all, she considered their time together a pretty effective course of exposure therapy. 

But, she wasn’t his Boot anymore, and it had been 6 months since she graduated. Six months since Tim had been an everyday presence in her life. And now the lines were… less clear.  _ So _ , she told herself,  _ it was perfectly natural, completely expected, in fact, that a now relatively rare Tim sighting might bring back a slight flutter, wasn’t it? _

It certainly did not help things that her attraction to him only grew as she slowly, but surely, got to see Tim for the man he was underneath his asshole facade. Slowly, but surely, could start to see through to the storm of emotion that was lurking just underneath his confident aloofness at any given point. Principled, but rogue. Calculated, but passionate. Cold on the surface, but so, so warm underneath. 

Nyla had laughed reassuringly when Lucy had shared her concern, “Pretend this is some alternate parallel universe where he wasn’t your TO. You’re just 2 strangers in a bar. You really telling me you wouldn’t want someone who looks like Tim Bradford to hit on you in a bar? One of the perks of UC work… you can be someone other than you for a little bit. Plus, trust me, I think you’ll be a lot more comfortable with Tim than if we pull in a UC you don’t know, but it’s absolutely your decision.” 

Lucy had relented relatively quickly, trusting Nyla’s judgment 100%,and realizing that this mission wasn’t the right time to test out how she’d respond to a relative stranger invading her personal space, fellow UC or not.

She shakes herself out of her brief reverie and begins to put their plan into action, noticing as she heads for the open spot at the bar next to him that there’s still something about the way he’s looking at her so intently, taking in every bit of her in what seems to almost be… appreciation? It unsettles her slightly, tickling at the girlish giddiness in her stomach and causing a wave of warmth to spread over her. Mentally shaking herself, Lucy immerses herself in her cover -- she is a party girl with one priority in mind, and it’s time to start the party.

Foregoing the empty bar stool next to Tim, she launches herself up on the rail running along the bottom of the bar so she can lean further over in an attempt to win the bartender’s attention, while also strategically angling herself in front of Tim, giving him the perfect opportunity to make contact. 

~~~

Tim’s eyes widen as the already dangerously short dress inches up even further as Lucy leans over the bar and he swallows hard, briefly debating whether the right move is to be a gentleman and avert his eyes or embrace his cover and enjoy the view. He momentarily entertains the latter, while simultaneously fighting against the impulse to wrap her up in his overshirt away and protected from all of the other eyes in the bar that are clearly also enjoying the view.

He finds himself surprised again at just how good she is at this - how naturally she’s able to adopt this party girl persona.

Once he’s at least partially confident that he can string together a sentence, Tim leans in to initiate a conversation with Lucy, “Wow, Boot, that is - uh - that is some dress.” 

Tim sees her flush just slightly before she turns a 1,000 kilowatt smile on him and flirtatiously tosses her hair over shoulder. Confident that the volume in the bar will make it impossible for anyone to actually hear their exchange, Lucy teases, “Well, you know what they say about all of you old geezers trying to get us UCs naked.”

He knows she’s more teasing than flirting, trying to put him at ease, but that does nothing to stop the series of images she’s started on a loop in his head. It’s Tim’s turn to blush as he swallows hard, clears his throat, and averts his eyes while reaching for a sip of his drink before responding, “Not a UC, yet, Boot. Don’t forget that.”

Oblivious to the effect of her words on him, and choosing to ignore his comment, Lucy changes tune, all business. “Any sign of him?” she asks, referring to the mid-level dealer / bartender she’s supposed to be initiating contact with.

Tim shakes his head no, not totally confident in what will come out if he tries to speak. Damn his throat is dry.

Clearing his throat again, he expands, “I’ve only seen 2 bartenders since I’ve gotten here,” he says nodding down toward the other end of the bar. “Neither of them has been your guy. It’s pretty clear they are understaffed.”

Lucy nods in agreement, taking in the growing crowd now pushing for a spot at the bar.

Once they finally manage to secure Lucy a drink (some fruity thing that is chock full of sugar; apparently Lucy’s taste in alcoholic beverages is about as good as her taste in coffee) and Tim a desperately needed refill, he takes immediate note of her unwillingness to set her drink on the bar and frowns, deeply saddened knowing that as uninhibited and carefree as she may be pretending to be tonight, that version of the real Lucy is gone for good. 

~~~

Lucy drains her drink quickly, the icy cold of the glass causing her fingers to numb. She looks up and realizes Tim is watching her intently with a familiar look -- it’s what she likes to think of as his ‘time machine’ look - not quite pitying, but just so deeply sad and regretful. It’s been a very long time since they’ve acknowledged or talked about Caleb or Rosalind, but every time she sees this expression, it so clearly conveys to her that he would do literally anything for her to have not gone through what she did, and that it still pains him deeply that he hadn’t been able to prevent it. It’s jarring to be able to see how intensely he still feels about it through just one expression, all because she wasn’t willing to set her drink down. She feels a twinge inside of herself, realizing, yet again, just how well he knows her. 

She lets her hand find his forearm and tucks her fingers in around the inside of his arm with a quick squeeze to reassure him that she’s doing just fine. He laughs, “You’re hands are freezing, Boot.” But he doesn’t pull away and neither does she. 

While it may be a step into new territory for Tim and Lucy, Lucy knows that as drunken flirting in a bar goes, it’s a timid and likely unconvincing first step, but the growing crowd at the at the bar forces both of them overcome any tentativeness they each might be feeling about progressing their physical contact for the sake of their covers. As irritated patrons continue to jostle them while they fight for the bartenders’ attention at the grossly understaffed bar, Tim instinctively places a hand on Lucy’s back to guide her into the small space in front of him between his stool and the bar and away from the drunken strangers, “This is a shit show,” he mutters in explanation.

He doesn’t miss how she just barely tenses at the contact, his hand on the bare skin of her back exposed by the tiny dress, but instead of letting go he leans forward so his mouth can find her ear, “You okay?” He gently brushes his thumb against her exposed skin, so she’ll know he’s asking about the contact between them, as well as the chaos overtaking the bar.

She nods vigorously in response to his question, feeling silly about the overreaction to his touch. She just hadn’t been expecting the contact to be so… electric. She adjusts her position so she’s fully facing the bar, tilting her head slightly forward and letting her hair provide a curtain of coverage as she collects herself. 

Lucy is acutely aware of just how close they are now. She is standing between his legs, the outside of her thighs brushing the insides of his. The heat of his chest warming her back. His stubble just barely scratching the bare skin on her shoulder and neck every time he leans in to say something to her. 

Taking one last annoyed look down the length of the bar, Lucy turns so she is facing him and can survey the rest of the bar in hopes of spotting her target, profoundly aware of the friction she’s creating between various body parts as she makes the adjustment. Her hand finds his thigh for balance as the crush of the crowd, teeter of her heels, and, well, the existence of Tim Bradford in her orbit, knock her just slightly off balance. His hands come up quickly to steady her, first landing on her upper arms before eventually sliding down to settle on her hips. She brings her other hand up to rest on his shoulder, only momentarily relishing the feel of the corded muscle of his upper arm under her fingers, before leaning forward to speak, “Where the hell is he?” She is frustrated, concerned that her first real mission is turning out to be a big, fat failure. 

She feels Tim shake his head, feels the rise and fall of his shoulders as he shrugs, and for a moment she allows herself to get lost in the sheer intoxication of being this close to Tim Bradford. She breathes in the scent of him, so much more appealing than the hot, sweaty atmosphere of the bar around them.

The placement of her hand on his thigh allows Lucy to feel the vibration of his phone when Tim does. Lucy blushes slightly as she follows Tim’s gaze to her hand before she lifts it so Tim can retrieve his phone. 

Tim angles the phone so Lucy can read the text from Nyla. “Looks like our guy called in sick. You’re free to go, but make sure you leave together; gotta make sure our wild child looks at least marginally wild for the next go around.” 

Tim signals one of the harried bartenders for their check, before turning his attention back to a disappointed Lucy. He smirks, “You didn’t think every UC mission was going to be all glamour and guns ablazing, did you?”

Lucy frowns at him, then shrugs, realizing that maybe, yes, she had expected more from her mission.

“It’s hard work Lucy. Oftentimes boring work. Nine times out of ten, you aren’t going to be busting the kingpin. You’re going to be waiting around for someone who never shows, burning hours on pointless stake outs, or shooting the shit with low life idiots.” 

Lucy feels herself deflate further, as Tim nudges her, “That’s why you’ve gotta stay on patrol - it’s where all the real action is.” Lucy rolls her eyes, but can’t help but smile at Tim’s neverending enthusiasm for patrol. 

Closing out the bill, Tim glances at Lucy with the tiniest spark of roguishness in his eyes, “So, you wanna get out of here or what?” 

Lucy blushes just slightly, wondering just how many women he’s propositioned with that line at the end of a long night, before tucking her arm into his and allowing him to lead the way to the exit.


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night continues with tacos at beach and so many feelings...

Part Two

The burst of cool, fresh air that meets them as they exit the bar is a welcome contrast to the intense body heat that had been building inside of the bar. 

As they wander into the parking lot, Tim nods his head toward the beachfront taco truck across the street, “You hungry, Boot?”

Lucy grins at him, just the idea of tacos making her stomach rumble, “Starved.”

As they reach the crosswalk and pause, waiting for the signal to change. Tim wordlessly shrugs off his overshirt, holding it out for her to take.

Lucy looks from Tim to the offered shirt and then back to Tim, narrowing her eyes at him, “Something you’d like to say, Bradford?”

Tim stares back, unyielding, with a shrug, “Just don’t want you to get cold, Boot.”

“Mmmhmm.”

They stare at each other for a moment longer before Lucy gives in, taking the shirt from Tim and pulling it on over her dress. While she won’t admit it to him, she’s secretly grateful for it, feeling a bit more conscious now that she is no longer in a bar full of similarly attired women and is instead wandering over to a food truck that has attracted an entirely more casual late night crowd. 

She’s startled by how quickly his scent overtakes her and barely resists the urge to tuck her face into the collar and breathe him in more deeply, instead turning her eyes up toward him, “I miss this, you know. I miss us... working together, I mean.” She quickly amends, shocked at how quickly her confident party girl persona has devolved back into awkwardness.

Tim meets her gaze and smiles just slightly down at her, “I miss you too, Lucy.”

Lucy doesn’t fail to notice that he calls her by her first name, not ‘Chen’ or ‘Boot’, and that he doesn’t bother to qualify with the ‘working together’ bit she’d thrown in. And she somehow knows his word choice is deliberate, a pointed, and yet reassuring, response to her awkwardly fumbling over her own words in trying to convey how much she misses having him in her life.

After they place their order, Lucy looks up at Tim with a pleading look, “Can we take these down to the beach? These shoes are killing my feet.”

Once they’ve gotten their tacos, Tim grudgingly agrees to Lucy’s suggestion to eat on the beach, but not without first mumbling something about proper footwear for taking down a suspect, and eating tacos on a beach after 10PM making you soft, and also being technically illegal since the beach is closed, but, hey, what’s a misdemeanor between friends?

Lucy ignores him, focusing instead on the immediate relief she feels as she ditches her shoes near the sea wall and lets her feet sink into the cool, comforting sand. 

They wander part way down the beach toward the water, settling into a spot that’s far enough away from the road that they can no longer hear the sounds of traffic and drunken people, but still close enough to the street lights that they can see their tacos. 

They are technically off duty now, but the energy between them, the night, still somehow feels surreal, some land in between 2 strangers in a bar and a former Rookie and her TO.

They have a good time, laughing together as they exchange stories about their craziest patrol encounters since they’ve stopped riding together.

Tim is gathering up the trash from their tacos and setting it aside, when Lucy speaks again, her voice no longer light with laughter. She’s not sure what makes her brave enough to say the words -- if it’s the cover of darkness, the abandoned beach, the sound of the ocean disappearing the rest of the world, or maybe even just a bit of liquid courage left over from their time in the bar, ““It really hurt me, you know...”

Tim freezes, his eyes jerking up to meet hers, caught off guard by the sudden change in her tone, “Lucy…?” he asks gently, unsure of what she is trying to tell him.

“The undercover stuff -- Tim, I really wanted and needed your support. I really wanted you to be proud of me and you just — it felt like you didn’t think I could handle it, that I wasn’t good enough. And then... it was like after I made that choice, after I graduated, it was a pat on the back, and you were just kind of done with me,” her voice is thick with emotion, the words tumbling out as even she is caught off guard with how many emotions confessing this is bringing to the surface. You would think that, as the kid of 2 shrinks, she’d be overwhelmingly in touch with her emotions, and she almost always is, but she’s long since realized that Tim Bradford has managed to become a bit of an emotional blind spot for her. 

He frowns, sighing, “Lucy, that’s not it. You know that isn’t it. I know you can handle it. You know I know you can handle it. I just - I just -- I can’t do this again. I can’t stand by and watch another person I care about disappear into that world. I know you think you know what you’re getting into, and maybe you do, but Lucy, doing this work is going to change your life, it’s going to change you.” 

The lightness of his expression from their conversation just moments ago has disappeared, and Lucy notices how tired and beaten down he suddenly looks. She’s well aware of how triggering this is for him, but she’s also unwilling to let it go because that would mean letting him go, calling it a night, and falling back into a world where Tim Bradford is nothing more to her than a casual wave in the hallway. And he’s not the only one that’s hurting.

He continues softly, looking out at the ocean instead of at her, “I don’t want to watch you change, not the way UC work changes people, and I just -- I can’t watch you get hurt in that way.” 

Lucy pauses, processing, trying to choose her next words carefully, but knowing there isn’t going to be a good way to say them,“Tim,” she says softly, “I’m not Isabel. I--”

“I know that,” he snaps, more forcefully than either of them is expecting, and it leaves them both wondering if he really does… emotionally, in this context.

Lucy swallows before continuing, carefully, wishing he would at least look at her and worrying that he’s going to shut down on her, “What I mean is that I’m not going to make the same mistakes she did, Tim, and that’s because of you. I saw what you went through firsthand; I’m not going into this as some naive, little Rookie that has no idea what the risks are, and I have you to thank for that.” 

She studies his profile, as he continues to refuse to look at her, knees bent up with his bent arms resting on them, unmoving. She reaches out to him, in hopes that the physical contact will bring him back to her, letting her hand find a place on his upper arm, allowing her fingers to curl around the curve of his bicep. She can literally feel the tension coursing through his body. He doesn’t react, silent as he continues to stare out into the dark abyss that is the ocean. 

“So what, then? Is that it? You can’t support me in UC work or even be in my life because… you care about me…?” she asks, almost incredulously, surprising even herself with the amount of frustration and anger she is feeling towards him in this moment, willing him to at least try and meet her halfway instead of shutting her out.

Even facing away from her, Lucy can see his expression is pained, “You know I do.” 

“Do I, though? Really, Tim?” she asks, her own voice just on the brink of cracking under the weight of emotion. She knows she’s pushing him, maybe too hard, but she isn’t able to stop herself. She keeps her hand wrapped around his upper arm so that he knows that this is about more than her just being angry at him for not being supportive of her, that she’s trying to reach him, connect with him, despite the clear frustration lacing her words, “ It’s been six months since I graduated. You were there for practically every minute of every day for over a year and, then, you were just gone.” Lucy’s voice shakes slightly, “I thought we were friends, Tim. I thought you were…” she trails off, unable to force out the words, ‘more than just my TO.’

After she graduated, Lucy had tried to maintain some kind of connection with Tim, sending the occasional funny observation about how her new partner was so different from Tim, or sharing one of Jackson’s more outrageous TikTok’s (never her own), or just checking in on Kujo.

And it wasn’t that he had just flat out ignored her, he always responded eventually, but it didn’t take long for Lucy to realize how painfully one directional their relationship had become. And so she stopped reaching out, and their relationship, their connection, devolved into casual ‘hellos’ as they passed each other by in the hallway or break room at work.

Shortly after they had called it quits, Rachel had told Lucy how emotionally distant Tim had become once she moved to New York. She’d theorized that he hadn’t been doing it intentionally, but that he just couldn’t sustain the connection they’d built without them being able to spend time together in person. And it hasn’t been until this very moment that Lucy realizes she and Tim have been going through their own version of the very same thing.

“Lucy… “ he says, sounding almost helpless, finally turning to look at her.

He sighs, struggling. He’s not like Lucy. He doesn’t always know how to put what he’s feeling into words. 

How does he explain to her that it had never been his intention to hurt her, even if that was ultimately the impact? How does he explain that after her graduation he just hadn’t known how to be in her life, what he was to her now that they weren’t sharing a shop on a daily basis, even while he was painfully aware of the Lucy-sized hole in his life.

At more than 10 years her senior, he was hardly going to kick it with her and Jackson and Nolan when they were off shift, and now that he was supervising another group of patrol officers in his Patrol Sergeant position, they just weren’t crossing paths naturally at work as much anymore. And yes, he knows he could have tried a bit harder to keep their own connection and friendship intact with the slightly ajar doors Lucy would send over via text, but he also wanted her to spread her wings, find her place in the department without his presence hovering over her shoulder.

And, if he was being honest, the undercover thing had come as an unexpected emotional gut punch. He knew he was out of line, that it wasn’t his place to get in the way of her chosen career path, and so, after the Solanga mission, it was an easy excuse for him to pull back from her. It had impacted him more that he had been willing to admit even to himself, and something in him had just known that if she went down this path, he’d inevitably end up losing her in some way.  
His thoughts are a jumbled mess, a tangle of his grief over Isabel, still tangible but less raw now; how good Lucy looked in that dress and how he suddenly can’t unsee his Boot in this new, not so friendly light; his acute awareness of the gentle pressure of her fingers around his arm and the way he is instinctually craving more of her touch, more closeness with her as he also tries to process the emotional Pandora’s box she has flung open; the innate protectiveness he feels toward the woman sitting next to him that he just hasn’t been able to figure out how to turn off since Caleb; the complications of how intertwined their professional and personal lives have become…

It is close to impossible for him to ignore his natural instinct to close off and pull away in situations that are as emotionally charged as this one, but this is Lucy, and he knows how much courage it’s taking her to confront him like this. And for her, he’s willing to at least try.

So instead of trying to put it all into words, he does the only thing he can to show her how deeply sorry he is for hurting her. He reaches his arm out to wrap around her waist, easily pulling her into him, wrapping her up in his arms and burying his face in her neck wanting to escape into her, for a brief reprieve from the emotions that are flooding him.

Lucy offers no resistance to the hug, instead allowing herself to be enveloped into him, one hand coming up to cradle the back of his neck as he burrows into her for comfort and her other arm fiercely wrapping around him to return the hug.

She’s not sure how long they sit like that, just breathing, before she finally speaks, “It’s okay, Tim,” she breathes softly, and she can feel some of the tension he’s holding in his body finally dissipate as he lifts his head from her shoulder to look at her.

Their closeness is somehow more jarring as their eyes find each other’s, her thumb gently stroking the hair at the base of his neck, his arms still unwilling to release her.

He leans his forehead against hers, noses touching, lips dangerously close together. One small shift and this will be more than 2 former partners, friends comforting each other through a difficult emotional exchange. Lucy somehow knows that if she leaves this up to Tim, they will stay like this, just like this, until the sun rises. He may have gotten them to the line, but he isn’t going to cross it without her explicit permission.

And so, she does, taking the tiniest, and yet also the biggest, of leaps, tilting her head ever so slightly so that her lips are just barely brushing his, before just barely pulling back to wait for his response.

He is frozen, and Lucy knows he is calculating. Calculating the consequences of his next move for her, calculating the consequences for him. 

They both know the consequences are going to be far greater for her, but that doesn’t mean they are going to be a cakewalk for him either. A TO suddenly becoming romantically involved with his former Rookie is going to raise difficult questions about power, influence, and favoritism that neither of them is going to want to face.

But in this moment, her entire body aching to be even closer to his, she can’t bring herself to care. She is tired of living her life in fear of what other people may think of her and is desperate to let go of the weight of that constant worry if even just for a night.

The wait is excruciating; Lucy feels like she has walked herself to the edge of a cliff and the agony of what the fall is going to feel like is starting to creep in as the doubt floods in. Has she completely misread this? Has she crossed a line they won’t be able to come back from?

Panic building in her chest, she can’t wait any longer, pulling herself backwards from him, “T-Tim, I —“

And then in the next moment it’s like she’s being knocked over by a wave in the ocean, unable to tell up from down. He is crashing into her, mouth covering hers, kissing her with an urgency and franticness she didn’t know anyone, let alone calm, cool, *almost* always in control Tim Bradford was capable of. 

One of his hands has found its way up under the undershirt he’s lent her to span across the bare skin of her back, pulling her impossibly closer to him, practically into his lap, while his other hand is cradling her face, gently guiding her as he continues explore her mouth with his. She still tastes like a piña colada or whatever that fruity shit was that she had been downing at the bar, and he cannot get enough of her.

And then, just as suddenly, Lucy is laughing uncontrollably, efficiently killing the moment as she topples back from him, unable to regain control of herself. 

Tim looks stunned, to say the least. “What the hell, boot?” he scoffs, annoyance with maybe just a tinge of amusement tinging his expression, his confusion evident.

Lucy works to catch her breath, and get her giggling under control, “I’m sorry - I’m sorry - it’s just - have you ever built something up in your head so much to the point that when it actually happens, it’s just ‘PWAH!’?” she exclaims, using her hand to mimic a mini explosion.

Tim stares at her, cocking an eyebrow ever so slightly, “So you’re telling me, this,” he gestures between the two of them, “is something you’ve been building up in your head… since... when was that again, Boot?”

Her cheeks are flaming as she realizes the door she’s opened coming down from her making-out-with-Tim-Bradford induced high, “Uhhh - no. NO. Well, I mean... yes, but -- not in any serious way… I mean... God, I’m only human - you can’t expect to have not had any hot TO fantasies in that last 18 months.”

His eyes are dancing with amusement, and he clears his throat, “Hot TO fantasies, huh Boot?”

Lucy’s still laughing, but can’t help but drop her gaze to the sand in embarrassment, wondering what the likelihood of an earthquake swallowing her up into the sand is at this very moment. So she doesn’t see him coming when he’s yanking her back towards him and recapturing her mouth with his own. 

Her surprised and joyful laughter quickly fades as the intensity skyrockets between them once again. 

Her hand, somehow managing to feel both tentative and bold, slowly begins to explore the firm skin of his stomach just under the hem of his T-shirt as Tim tugs his own overshirt down and off of her shoulder, providing more bare skin for his mouth to explore. Lucy tilts her head back to allow him greater access to her neck, and barely suppresses a moan as his mouth finds the spot between her neck and shoulder, just above the tie of her halter dress. His other hand finding the curve of her knee before sliding up the length of her thigh, stopping just short before just barely beginning to toy with the hem of that damn dress that has somehow found it’s way even further up her thigh.

Her whole body is alight with his touch and she’s grateful for a moment to suck in a deep breath of fresh air. Every one of her senses is completely overwhelmed with Tim Bradford and it is absolutely intoxicating.

And then, suddenly, it’s him that is unexpectedly pulling away, breaking the fiery contact between them and leaving her cold as he flops backwards onto the sand, hands covering his face with something between a groan and a laugh escaping him.

When he finally removes his hands, he’s staring directly up at a stunned Lucy, “What the fuck are we doing, Boot?”

Even though there is laughter in his expression, Lucy can also see that he is deeply conflicted, that he is carrying the burden of knowing this may be worse for her than it is for him and is still agonizing over whether he’s doing the right thing.

Lucy sighs, staring up at the stars, struggling to connect this strange, long, incredible night back to reality that daylight is sure to bring, “I-- I don’t know, Tim… but maybe -- maybe we just…” she trails off.

“Just what, boot? 

She deflects before responding, shoving his arm playfully, “I’m thinking you should probably stop calling me that.”

“Probably,” he says nodding in agreement as he boosts himself up on his elbows, his hand finding her knee and giving it a squeeze. “But, I’d also just really hate to ruin any aspect of your ‘Hot TO’ fantasy. What did I call you in those?” he teases, eyes shining with laughter.

Lucy groans and buries her head in her hands, hair falling forward to provide a curtain for her mortification to hide behind, “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”

“Not a chance in hell, Boo-- Lucy,” he catches himself, shifting upward momentarily, just enough so he can reach over and push her hair back from her face. “What were you going to say, Lucy?” he asks as he relaxes back on his elbows.

She looks at him coyly, biting back a smile, before shrugging, “Maybe we just figure it out in the morning?”

His eyebrows leap up at the insinuation, and he stares up at her shaking his head in amused disbelief, before reaching up to pull her over on top of him so that they can finish what they started.


End file.
